Southwest Salad

Here’s a good, warm-weather salad for 6 to 8 people. It also makes a great topping for tacos, tostados and omelettes. Earth & Vine products are available at Grapevine Cottage.

Ingredients:
1 can corn kernels, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large avocado, peeled and diced
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 medium red onion, peeled and diced
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup Earth & Vine Provisions Key Lime Kiwi Tangerine Marinade & Dressing
1 cup or more broken corn chips for topping

Preparation:
Toss all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and top with broken corn
chips. This would be good paired with the Girard Sauvignon Blanc 2007.

Serious herb and garlic mashed potatoes

As those who frequent the store on Saturdays know (that’s when we offer samples of our gourmet food), the Life in Provence Herb & Garlic Eurocreme cheese is very tasty on pretzels or a slice of baguette. This spreadable Gournay cheese also makes a good vegetable dip, and shines as a sandwich condiment.

It also works quite well with potatoes, whether used as a baked potato topping or incorporated into Serious Mashed Potatoes (the link connects to a recipe on our Web site). Last Saturday we simply substituted the contents of an 8-oz. container of Herb & Garlic Eurocreme for the milk and sour cream, and it was fabulous!

If you’re not a fan of garlic, try the French Onion Eurocreme — it’s a bit milder, but still delicious.

New! Spiegelau Bordeaux glasses

Today our UPS driver delivered two very large boxes of our newest line of wine glasses from Spiegelau, a German crystal maker that was purchased five years ago by its Austrian competitor, Riedel. Similar in shape to the corresponding Riedels, the Spiegelau Festival Series Bordeaux and white wine glasses sell at a lower price point – just $6.99 per stem. We think this is an excellent price – especially considering that the discounted price at a big-box discount store a couple of miles away is $9 each.

At this moment, only the Spiegelau Festival Bordeaux glasses are in stock at Grapevine Cottage. The white wine glasses are on back order, but are expected to arrive some time in April – just in time for deck wine season!

Update: The white wine glasses arrived today (April 3).